OLYMPIA (AP) - When a state lawmaker noticed the stone highway marker near Washington's border with Canada, he wondered: Why would Washington state, of all places, have a highway named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis?

So, Rep. Hans Dunshee, a Snohomish Democrat, sponsored a bill to rename the highway for William P. Stewart, a black Union soldier who settled in Washington. He had no idea what he was getting into.

"I thought I had found something in the attic that just needed to be taken out," Dunshee said. "I got a live snake in my living room."

His proposal sparked debate, protests and even threats - reminding Washington residents of their own uncomfortable link to the dark side of Confederate heritage.

Dunshee believes Washington state should not honor Davis, who led the South in the Civil War and defended both secession and slavery. The marker belongs in a museum, Dunshee said, and he has threatened to rip it out himself.

"It is critical we remove that stamp of approval," he said.

For that stand, Dunshee has received letters such as this:

"People of the black race such as yourself, YOU are the reason this country is going downhill. ... You, yourself, are more than likely a lazy SOB that does nothing but try to imitate MLK, your idol. ... Have you ever had a child illegitimately by more than one woman? My guess would be yes."

Dunshee, who is white, said the most vicious letters came from Southerners; in-state response has been more balanced.

Dunshee has removed his home address from his Web site and asked the State Patrol to watch over his family.

"The e-mails I received convinced me that this was more than just a rock," Dunshee said of the marker.

Highway 99 in Washington was dubbed the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway in 1939, the same year the Southern-nostalgia movie "Gone With the Wind" was released. A group called the United Daughters of the Confederacy placed stone markers at either end of the state, in Blaine and Vancouver.

The marker in Vancouver was quietly removed a few years ago by city officials who found it offensive.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy are women with Confederate soldier ancestors, dedicated to preserving Southern history and heritage. During the 1930s, they pursued a nationwide campaign to create a Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway across the country.

Many locals don't want to see the marker go.

"They put up the memorial for a reason," said Tim Johnson of Bellingham. He grew up in Blaine and remembers playing around the monument in Peace Arch park.

"You don't see them moving the Jefferson or Lincoln memorials, do you?" Johnson said.

The Bellingham Herald chided the legislator: "Dunshee is making an issue where none exists. It's not like this is the Deep South and there's a highway dedicated to Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest."

That history is not as far removed from the Pacific Northwest as residents may think. Washington is 3,000 miles from the Deep South, but the Klan once held sway here.

The Ku Klux Klan experienced a national rebirth in the 1920s, targeting minorities, Jews, Catholics and immigrants. About 40,000 Washington residents joined the Klan by the mid-1920s - 3 percent of the state's population.

A 1924 Klan rally in Issaquah drew 13,000 people; a Stanwood KKK rally attracted 10,000. In 1926, the Klan paraded through Bellingham. In 1929, the Klan held its statewide convention in Bellingham, during which the mayor presented Klan leaders with the key to the city.

"We think we're this great tolerant and diverse community, and it turns out that we have this ugly past," Dunshee said.

The Klan lost power by the mid-1930s, beset by internal strife and scandals. Meanwhile, a pro-Nazi group, called the Silvershirts, grew to claim 1,600 Washington members by 1939. A 1939 issue of Life magazine featured photos and stories from Silvershirt meetings in Chehalis and Seattle.

The KKK still has chapters in Tacoma and Seattle, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center watchdog group, although their activities seem confined to the Internet.

The Klan's past prominence in Washington doesn't surprise Marian Harrison of Arlington, a descendant of William P. Stewart. After volunteering and fighting for the Union Army, Stewart settled in Snohomish County and became a successful farmer. His family still lives there.

Harrison, 71, knew of Klan "mischief" while she was growing up, but didn't worry about it.

And while she said she was not offended by the Jefferson Davis memorial, she thinks it's time for a change. She believes a memorial honoring her ancestor, a local hero, would better fit the region and the times.

"He's what freedom stands for," she said.

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